BBL Friday Night Highlights: 1st November 2013
It was a relatively quiet night in regards to the amount of BBL action on show, with one Championship and one belated first round Cup game on the cards, but nonetheless action-packed in each fixture.
Raiders @ Wolves (BBL Championship)
‘Curse of the Month’ is often what follows after the recipients of Coach and Player of the Month awards are handed out, and that was to be the case in Worcester, as Paul James’ side finally lost out on their unbeaten record.
Andreas Schreiber was billed to come face-to-face with his former Raiders side ahead of the BBL TV offering,
A 12-1 run by the Raiders stretching over the first two quarters, featuring two big threes from new signing Masse Doumbe after his departure from Cheshire Phoenix, saw the South West side take an early advantage in the game.
Wolves dug deep to claw back and then extend a lead to eight points going into halftime, 38-30.
The home side kept a strangehold on the game, rounded off by a Schreiber dunk off Zaire Taylor’s assist, and saw Raiders’ head coach, Jay Marriott, receive a technical foul in frustration at his side’s efforts.
Plymouth were not finished though, despite being down 57-45, as they made a dramatic turnaround of their own in the final quarter.
Six of Wolves’ 17 turnovers came in the last ten minutes, whilst a series of three pointers from Trevor Setty and Louis Sayers catapulted Plymouth into command for an amazing 71-74 comeback victory, closed out from the free throw line.
Lions @ Sharks (BBL Cup First Round)
In this belated BBL Cup First Round tie, a confident and determined display from Sheffield rounded off what will have been a disappointing week for Vince Macaulay and his Lions.
Without the services of Matthew Bryan Amaning, although not a shock with him signed only to a short term deal; the lack of his 20.3 points and eight rebounds per game, was noticable.
The first quarter saw both sides get a feel for the fixture, but Sharks opened matters up from late in the period with a 6-0 run, and never looked back from there.
Jeremie Simmons pushed the score out to a game-high lead of 28 late in the final quarter, but Joseph Ikhinmwin scored the last point of the night from the free throw line, although it was an easy 90-63 progression for Atiba Lyons’ men into the quarter finals, where they will face Durham Wildcats.
Colin Sing and Mike Tuck were the pick of the bunch for Sheffield on the night; Sing with a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards, as well as taking three steals, whilst Captain Tuck top-scored with 21 points and also grabbed 8 rebounds.
